Ex-youth pastor who filmed minors in church bathroom pleads guilty to possession of illegal images
Daniel Kellan Mayfield, a former youth pastor in South Carolina accused of filming young girls in the shower at a church bathroom without their knowledge, has pleaded guilty to one count of possession of illegal child sexual abuse images and could spend up to 20 years in prison and fined $250,000 for his crime, according to court records.
The court records, cited by The Post and Courier Greenville, show that the 36-year-old Mayfield pleaded guilty to possession of the illegal images even as he continues to face at least 167 charges related to voyeurism.
Mayfield, 36, who is married, was first arrested in June 2023 on voyeurism charges while he was serving as a youth pastor at First Baptist Gowensville in Landrum. He allegedly filmed girls as young as 14 in the bathroom of the church and recorded women in bridal parties changing their clothes.
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Among the charges Mayfield faces, six are for sexual exploitation of a minor in the first degree, while others are connected to three weddings that occurred in 2019 and 2021. At two of the weddings where Mayfield was hired to provide videography service, he allegedly recorded women in areas where they had a "reasonable expectation of privacy." Mayfield allegedly set up cameras in areas where the bridal party changed their clothes.
Of the charges leveled against Mayfield, the Post and Courier reported 109 in Greenville County, 38 in Spartanburg County, nine in Greenwood County, six in Charleston County and five in Beaufort County.
At the end of their investigation of Mayfield in October, the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office made an appeal on Facebook to any additional victims to come forward.
“Greenville began examining multiple electronic devices that were seized from Mayfield, and as their investigation progressed, they charged Mayfield with multiple counts of voyeurism, and they also identified locations in this county where Mayfield had committed the same offense,” the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
“A majority of these incidents occurred at wedding venues where Mayfield was the contracted photographer/videographer. As we received evidence from Greenville, it took considerable time to identify, notify, and interview those victims,” it continued. “If there are other female citizens in this county who feel like they may have been victims of Mayfield, they are urged to contact Investigator Tiffany Hill either by calling her at (864) 503-4579 or emailing her at thill@spartanburgcounty.org.”
The investigation into Mayfield was sparked by an earlier announcement by investigators that Mayfield was caught recording a woman outside the bathroom window of her mother's house in Greenwood on May 27, 2023. The woman reported that she and her sister found Mayfield standing alone in their backyard after she noticed a light outside the window.
When they initially confronted him about what he was doing, he denied making any recording. Eventually, he confessed to recording the woman while she was showering and gave her his phone so she could view the video. A redacted affidavit details how, after he was caught, Mayfield declared, "Oh s—" before he managed to end the recording.
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